Automobile transmission.



L. W. BLYMYER. AUTQMOBILE TRANSMISSION.

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Patented May 27, 1913.

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' Specification art-utters Patent. Application fi led Oc'tober'Bl, 1911. Serial No. 657,734. 7

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Patented May 27, 1913.

l1 nllwhomwitmag concern." v i I a n r Be it known that 11 Larayn'r'rn W'EBB ELY"- MYIC {a citizen of the United States residing at-"Ilos Angeles, in-the county of Los Angeles. State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automobile Transmissions, ofwhich thefollo'wing is a specification.

This invention relates to atrans'mission particularly adapted for use in automobiles, although it may be of great utilityin :other situations; and the prime object of th'e in vention is the provision of a device whereby the relative speeds of a driven and adrivingshaft may be varied gradually, instead of in steps as now usually the case, andwhereby the full amountof availableenergy maybe transmitted to the driven shaft at both relatively low and high speedsthereof So far 'as I am 'now aware, there have been and are now sereralstyles of transmis sions available. The firstof these is'the ordinary gear transmission in: which the change .of speed is accomplished step by step; the objections to this form of transmission'are merely the objections tothe step by step Operation. In the frictional form of transmission the relative speeds of the. driving and driven shaftsmay be changed gradually, but there are" mechanical diflh culties inherent in the fr1ct1on drive renderz-.

ing it impracticable for certain "kinds of work. F or instance, the friction drive is not positive in its nature; 'and'it-is subject to In a third form of trans mission a fluid resistance, in some form-or other, is used as a driving medium between the driving and driven shafts. The ordinary form taken by this type comprises a liquid pump of some character arl'anfgedbetween theftwo shafts so that-any rel-ativerotation of the shafts will cause the liquid pump to force a stream of liquid through an appropriate system. 'By increasingthe im pedimentto the flow of this liquid the resistance against which the pump works may be greatly increased and, the relative rota-- tion .ofthe two shafts therebv diminished.

' \Vhen theresistance to liquid" flowis the least then the'relative rotation of the two shafts is the greatest; and when the resistance to liquid How is greatest then the relative rotation. of the two shafts is theleast. In other words. in aperfectmechanism to tally stopping the flow-ofthe liquid-will practically lock the twoshaft-s together and high gear.

speed as the driving shaft. At this pointof 1 relative rotation the efiicien'cyof such a de vice is atitsihighest point; it is atinter mediate points, when the driven shaft 18 m tating more slowly than the driving shaft, that a device of this type becomes very ineflieient.

Taking the case where the driven shaft is rotating at one half the speed of the driving shaf it must necessarily be that there is' some impediment to the liquid flow, but still not sufficientimpediment to entirely st'0pthat flow; in other words, a portion of the liquid is allowed to flow freely fwhil'e ans other portion is stopped from 'flo\ving,' or the 'wholestream of liquid -is partiallyinterrupted. The pump performs a certain amount offw-ork in forcing the liquid against the impediment and this amount of work, or energy issubtracted'from the total amountdeliverable to the driven shaft. In an autoi'nohile it isusually desirable that the full en'ergyiof theengine or other primemove'r he deliveredto the wheels especially, when.

the car is running on low gear. In a do:

vice of this type the full energy is only. transmitted to the driven shaft when the driving and driven shafts are running at equal speeds. when the car is running on The disadvantage; then, n

this type of mechanism isin the consump tionor waste of energy by the action of the liquid'or fluid pump ag'ainst'an abutment, such as the partial closure of a valve across the pipe in which the liquid is circula.ted.- In my device I have sought to overcome this difficulty by providing means whereby the energy lost by the action of theliquid pump itself, which energy might be styled the en- 'e-rgy of'relative revolution of the driving and driven shafts, may be utilized to aid in the rotation of the driven shaft.

In its practical aspect the invention takes the form of a liquid pump arranged between the driving and driven shaftsand of a motor of some sort connected to the driven shaft, the arrangement being such that,

when it is desired to impede the circulation of the liquid; by the pump, a portion orall of the liquid-may be d rectedto thismotor and cause the motor to return a large 'pro portion .of the energy otherwise wasted to,

the driven shaft. 5 v

I ha e shown in the accompanying drawmgs and Wlll explain in the following speclthe casing 9 of the gear pump.

tication a typical form of device which I'bc-I lieve to embody my invention in a practical machine; but I do not thereby limit myself to the peculiar structure or arrangement shown, believing my invention to broadly consist in the above outlined combination and only specifically in the particular mechanism described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section illustrating my complete invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a on line 55 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings 5 deslgnates a driving shaft, propelled from any suitable source of power, and 6 designates a driven shaft (being the shaft driven through the medium of the mechanism about to be explained). Mounted on the end of driving shaft 5 is one rotatable member 7 of'a gear pump 8. The casing 9 of this gear pump is rigidly mounted at 9 on shaft 6, and the casing is counter-balanced as at 9 so that it may rotate with driven shaft 6 and be in good balance. The other rotating member 7 of the gear pump is mounted on a suitable shaft within casing 9. Member 7 being mounted on shaft 5 and easing 9 being mounted on shaft 6, it will be seen that a relative rotation of the two shafts will cause the operation of the pump. 'This pump is typical of any device Which will cause a circulation of liquid in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2; I merely utilize a pump of the character shown and described for the reason that its mechanism is simple and that it lends itself very readily to mounting on the two shafts 5 and 6.

The liquid moved by the operation of the pump passes through a suitable passage 20 to a slide valve 21. This valve is preferably of the sliding type; any valve which will cause the operation immediately hereinafter described will sufiice. I have merely shown a simple form of slide valve to typify any form of valve which will perform the necessary operation, namely, the diversion of the fluid flow from passage 20 into passages 22 and 23 as may be desired. Passages 22 and 23 connect with passages 24 and '25, re-

spectively, passage 24 leading across shaft 6. Passage 24: connects with a passage 30 which corresponds in location to passage 20, and through this passage 30 the liquid, preferably some lubricating oil, is led back to By moving valve 21 it will be seen that the total flow of liquid from passage 20 may be thrown into passage 30 or into passage 25; or the flow may be divided proportionately between the two'passages. The valve is shown in such a position in Fig. 1. A valve stem 31 connects at 32 with a sleeve 33 slidably mounted on shaft 6, the sleeve being slidable through the medium of a suitable arm 34: pivotally mounted at 35 and operated by a connecting rod or other suitable means 36. By moving connecting rod 36, which rod may be attached to any convenient manually engageable member, the valve 21 may be moved so as to divert the fluid through passages 25 and 30 just as is desired. When the fluid is diverted entirely through passage 30 then the circulation is practically unimpeded (except for the friction afforded by the walls of the passages). The rotation of members? and 7? within the casing 9 will then continue'practically unimpeded; and shaft 5 may rotate without transmitting any torque toshaft- 6. Shaft 6 will then remain stationary. However, if a certain portion of the fluid flow be directed through passage 25, this portion of the fluid How is impeded by the reaction of the motor mechanism about to be described and, consequently, a certain resistance is offered to the movement of the fluid by the gear pump. This immediately causes the rotation of the casing 9 of the gear pump to an extent corresponding to the amount of impediment offered to the liquid circulation. Thus shaft 6 may be rotated very slowly by moving valve 21 very slightlyto divert a portion of the fluid flow through passage 25; or the shaft 6 may be rotated at its maximum speed by the diversion of all of the fluid through passage 25.

Broadly considered, the above described mechanism, outside of its combination with the motor mechanism about to be described, is old, having been used in this art of transmission-for some time. It is in the combination of the foregoing described mechanism with the motor mechanism that my invention particularly consists; and the invention consists, first, broadly in the combination of two such mechanisms in such a manner as to be described, and. second, in the specific combination and mechanisms which I deem preferable and have shown in the drawings.

Mounted rigidly upon shaft 6 I have shown the rotary member 10 of a liquid turbine 41, the outer member 12 of this turbine being mounted on bearings 43 on shaft 6, which bearings allow the outer member or element 42 to rotate independently of the shaft 6. Rotary member 10 is provided with suitable vanes which direct the liquid flow from a radial, through a curved path,

the interior of-member 40). From the hollow interior 40 the fluid flows-out through thevvarying quantities of liquid which will be supplied to the turbine. This is provided for, as shown particularly in Fig. 4, by having one wall of each of the nozzles formed between the vanes made of a separate piece as is illustrated at 50 in Fig. 4. This piece is pivoted at 51 and a. spring 52 tends to throw it outwardly so as to contract the nozzle against the pressure ofthe fluid passing therethrough. hen the fluid pressure becomes greater, when there is a larger quantity of fluid being forced through the turbine, the piece 50 will be forced back against the pressure of spring 52 and the nozzle tation of shaft-6.

will expand to accommodate the larger volume of liquid. The liquid passes out through these expansible nozzles into the space between vanes 55 on outer turbine member 42. From the space between these vanes the liquid escapes through side passages 56 and emerges from the interior ofthe turbine through openings 57, which may be the openings between the radial arms supporting the outer rim of member 42. The

vanes and nozzles on member 40 may face in either direction with relation to the r0-' There are some advan= tages which each direction has over the other; and it may bethat these advantages 1 will practically balance each other,.making it indifferent which direction is assumed, or that the advantages of one direction will outweigh the advantages of the other direction in some particular cases. Mechanically.

Figs. 1 and 3, then the simple gear connections between the member 42 and shaft 6 will suffice; if the other direction is assumed forrthe rotation of member 42, then it will be necessary to change the gearing connections. It is only neccssary inlany case to apply the rotational effort of the member42 to the shaft 6 to turn it in the same direction as that in which shaft 5 is rotated. It being clear that I may assume either direction of rotation, T have shown and will explain the device with the member 42 adapted to rotate in the samedirection as shaft 6. Member 42 is then connected to shaft 6 through the medium of the following explained gearing. A pinion (S0 is mounted on member 42 and meshes with a gear 61 mounted on a countershaft 62. A pinion ($3 on this shaft meshes with a gear (34 mounted on bearing (35 on shaft 6 so that it may rotate relatively to the shaft. Mounted on shaft (3 and always rotating therewith is a disk 66, this disk shaft 6-. and patentably, the direction of rotation of I the member 42 is not necessarilyarbitrarily fixed. If the direction is as indicated in Rollers 68 are carried in pockets 69 in disk 66 and'a-re adapted to engage with rim 67 when the rim rotates'in the'directionindicated relative to shaft 6. In other words, when rim 67 is rotating in the direction indicated faster than shaft 6, then the rollers (38 will engage the rim so thatthe rotary motion of the rim is transmitted to the disk 66 and shaft 6. In other words, when member 42 of turbine41 is traveling at a sufficient rotational, speed (and the mechanism is so designed that,lwhen the turbine is in action at all, it will betraveling at a sufficient rotational speed) it will exert a rotational effort on shaft 6 and thereby add to and there is no rotation of the turbine 41.,

then the shaft 6 may rotate without carrying the turbine with it, as the shaft may rotate in the direction indicated in Fig. 5 without carrying rim ($7 in that direction.

.The liquid, preferably oil, which is pumped through the system, and which is exhausted from the turbine. will accumulate in casing 70. This casing at. once performs the office of a liquid catch basin and also incloses all of the turbine mechanism in a bath of oil, thoroughly lubricating the same. From this casing 70 a pipe 71v leads to a pump, preferably centrifugal. 72 which is driven through the medium of a shaft 73 and belt connection 74 from shaft 5 or front any other continuously rotating part of the mechanism on which my transmission is placed. The function of pump 72 is to raise the-liquid to a storage tank 75 from whence it passes into a chamber 76which surrounds A passage 77 in shaft 6 connects with chamber 76 and connects with passage 24 in the shaft, thereby connecting with passage 30. This passage provides for supply ing oilto-the gear pump in its full capacity at all times regardless of the position of valve 21; for the deficiency of oil drawn through passage 24 from valve 21 will always he made up by the amount of oil drawn through passage 7 7 from chamber 76. When the valve 21 is in position to send the entire oil circulation through passage 25 and hrough turbine 41. then the entire oil supply for the pump will be drawnthrough passage 77. \Vhen this is the case, then the gear pump is acting against its full resistance and shaft 6 will be traveling at its maximum speed. .Turbine 41 will also be exerting its maximum effort to rotate shaft 6; and, between the rotational etfort applied by the gear pump and the rotational effort applied by the turbine, the shaft (5 will be rotated with an energy equal to a very large percentage of the energy in shaft Neglecting tation of shaft 6 should be equal to the energy of rotation of shaft 5. I only lose an amount of energy represented by frictional lo ses and inevitable losses of transformation.

It will be seen that the gist of my invention consists broadly in the provision of certain motor means to transform the energy of relative rotation of shafts 5 and 6 into energy applicable directly to the rotation of shaft. (5. In this I believe my invention t-o relatively movable parts, one of said motor parts being carried by the driven shaft and the other connected to the driven shaft, and means to connectthe inlet and outlet of the pressure producing mechanism together and to divert a portion of the produced pressure to the motor mechanism.

2. In combination with a driving and a driven shaft, a fluid pressure producing mechanism mounted on the shafts and adapted to be operated by'their relative rotation, said mechanism having a fluid inletand outlet, a fluid pressure motor comprising two relatively movable parts one-of which is carried by the driven shaft and the other connected to the driven shaft to rotate it in the direction of rotation of the driving shaft, means to connect the inlet and outlet of the pressure producing mechanism together, and means for diverting a portion of the fluid pressure to the motor mechanism.

3. In combination with a drivlng and a driven shaft, the driven shaft having a pair of longitudinal passageways therethrough, a

fluid pump having its relatively moving pumping portions mounted on the drivlng and driven shafts to be operated by therelative rotation thereof, an inlet and an outlet passage for the pump, the inlet passage connecting directly with one of the longitudinal passageways in the driven shaft, a. valve mechanism for connecting the outlet passage of the pump to either the inlet passage thereof or to the other passage in the driven shaft, a turbine rotary member rigidly mounted on the driven shaft and having liquid passages connecting with the last mentioned shaft passage, a cooperating turbine member rotatively mounted on the driven shaft and rotatively connected thereto through the medium of gears and ratchets, and a liquid reservoir surrounding the driven shaft and connecting with the first mentioned shaft passage.

4; In combinationwith a driving and a driven shaft, an energy transforming mechanism connected between and adapted to be operated by the relative rotation of the two shafts, a motor mechanism comprising two relatively movable parts one of which is carried by the'd'riven shaft and the other connected to the driven shaft, and means to short-circuit the energy produced within the energy transforming mechanism and to di vert said energy to the motor mechanism.

5. In combination with a driving and a driven shaft, a fluid pressure producing mechanism mounted on the shafts and adapted to bdoperated by their relative r0 tation, said mechanism having a fluid inlet and outlet, a fluid pressure motor comprising two relatively movable parts one of which is carried by the driven shaft, a ratchet mechanism through which the other motor member is connected to the driven shaft to rotate it in the direction of rotation of the driving shaft, means to connect the inlet and outlet of the pressure producing mechanism together, and means for diverting a portion of the fluid pressure to the motor mechanism.

6. In combination with a driving and a driven shaft, an energy transforming mech anism having relatively movable members connected to 'and' adapted to be operated by the relative rotation of the two shafts, a motor mechanism comprising two relatively movable parts one of which is stationary with reference to the driven shaft and its connected member of the energy transforming mechanism and the other connected to the driven shaft, and means to short-circuit the energy produced within -the energy transforming mechanism and to divert said energy to the motor mechanism.

7. In combination with a driving and a driven shaft, a fluid pressure producing mechanism having its relatively moving parts permanently connected with the shafts and adapted to be operated by their relative rotation, a motor mechanism comprising two relatively moving parts one of which is connected to the driven shaft to rotate it in the direction of rotation of the driving shaft when the motor mechanism is supplied with fluid pressure, valve means to shortcircuit the flow of fluid produced by the pressureproducing mechanism and to divert a portion or all of said flow of fluid to said motor mechanism.

8. In coml'iination with a. driving and a driven shaft, a fluid pressure producing mechanism mounted on the shafts and adapted to be operated by their relative rotation, a fluid pressure turbine having two relatively moving parts one of which is connected to the driven shaft to rotate it in the direction of rotation of the driving shaft, reiatively'moving'parts one of which .is convalve means to short-circuit the flow of fluid nected to the driven shaft, and the other car produced by the pressure producing mecharied by the driven shaft. nism and to divert a portion or all of said In Witness that I claim the foregoing I 5 flow of fluid to said turbine. have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th 15 9. In combination with a driving and a day of October 1911. a driven shaft, a fluid pressure producing LAFAYETTE W. BLYMYER. mechanism mounted on the shafts and Witnesses: adapted to be operated by their relative ro- JAS. H BALLEGH,

1C tation, a fluid pressure turbine having two JAMES T. BARKELEW. 

